Dares, Alcohol, and Bets
by LunarTea
Summary: Things are brewing during winter break in Hogwarts, when Harry and Ron are asked to retrieve something for Fred and George. But it won't be easy. What will they all encounter on this fateful night? Read to find out. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**A/U: **Thanks for looking at my story, if you would please review ! I'd like to know what you think!:D

* * *

It was a frosty Christmas Eve morning at Hogwarts school; where Harry and a few other students, who decided to stay at Hogwarts for various reasons were eating in the great hall. Ron's parents were visiting relatives in Canada whom Ron utterly despised, so he made up an excuse to not go home for the holiday. Across the table, Ron sighed grabbing a bagel and miserably spreading butter on it.

"I should have thought of a better excuse than getting a warning from a teacher of failing so I have to do an extra credit report," He miserably bit into his bagel and mournfully looked up at Harry. "My parents - well mum was so mad, she told me I better get an Excellent on nearly everything or I could forget getting a new broom for my birthday. I've been promised that broom almost four years ago!"

He looked at Hermione expectantly, hoping for her to volunteer to help him. But Hermione, who was leaving for home in a few hours, wasn't listening to Ron but was staring vehemently at the Slytherin table, gingerly, holding a warm cup of black tea. The only Slytherins left were Vincent Crabbe, Draco Malfoy, and Adam Burkley; there wasn't any peculiar out of the ordinary behavior. As usual, they sat together whispering quietly of something that Harry had no interest in whatsoever.

_Until he found out what it was about._

Hermione muttered something under her breath, it sounded oddly like, 'I'm watching you'; Ron looked from Hermione to meet Harry's gaze with a raised eyebrow. Harry shrugged and continued to watch curiously at the Slytherin table, where Harry could swear that Malfoy looked up and gave him a mischievous half smilish-smirk. Ron not being able to withstand the silent tension in the air, he gave a frustrated grunt and waved his hands in front of Hermione's face.

"Argh... Hermione, why are you staring at them? What'd they do this time?" He whispered, brows furrowed and glancing at the slytherin table."Hmm?"

Hermione's brown eyes slowly turned to Ron, her face showed that inside she was contemplating whether or not to say what she knew. After a minute of Ron squirming awkwardly under her gaze, she finally sighed and shifted closer.

"Okay, since I'm not going to be here tonight, I'm going to have to trust you two to do what I would do." She whispered quickly, darting a look at Fred and George who sat within earshot. They seemed to not be paying attention but talking to each other with serious expressions on their faces.

"Last week, Marillo Brocke tried to smuggle Firewink Rum into Hogwarts. I overheard those three talking about stealing it tonight due to low defenses ..." She was referring to Filch's little Christmas celebration of drinking and dancing with Mrs. Norris.

"Firewink rum... Oh!" Ron's face brightened. "I've always wanted to try s-" He was cut off by Hermione who slammed her hands down onto the table. A few hufflepuffs and teachers peered over for a second to see what the problem was, and Hermione noticing the attention flushed a little ducking her head.

"Ron!" She whispered sharply, "I told you to stop anyone from stealing it, not steal it for yourself! Harry, I expect you to be the responsible one, and please stop anyone from getting it, okay?" she pleaded, desperately looking at Harry.

Harry nodded immediately to calm her down, "of course, of course. Don't worry I'll keep an eye out."

After a few silent moments of eating with his eyes on his plate, he slowly looked up at Hermione to see that she had calmed down to normal.

"Just out of curiosity..."he said slowly, "what is this firewink rum?" Slight curiosity showed in his green eyes.

"Well, I've only heard about it from Charlie and Bill. But it's supposed to be really good an-" he was interrupted by Hermione who sounded informative as usual.

"It's made from Faerie dust, mixed with some fire lily petals which create a stimulating drink. You two are underage, if you want to drink it so badly, then wait!" She ended with a low voice and a stern look. "There's also some...Err...side effects..." she said this with a slightly flustered voice and a pink tint on her cheeks.

Looking at the time, Hermione excused herself after finishing her meal to have a last look in the library. Harry's train of thought mulled out and the direction of his head ended up facing the Slytherin's table. His attention was directed now to the way Malfoy's light blonde bangs... they brushed over his grey eyes when he moved his head a certain way. Harry frowned, wondering why on goblins terrain he would care what Malfoy of all people would do... Recently, Harry would randomly notice something about him... that would make him feel...

He was shaken out of his reverie by none other than the infamous twins, Fred and George. They were looking particularly devilish at that moment, probably up to something again; they shifted closer to him and smiled not so innocently.

"Harry, we have a magnificent idea that we want to share with you," said Fred mischievously glancing at his twin brother who continued. "We sort of overheard you guys talking about the small crate of rum that was ordered..." he paused, Ron and Harry looked puzzled.

"For us." George finished.

Ron and Harry blinked silently and looked at each other and back. They thought that the twins must have been joking, and was waiting for the laughter to start. But instead George looked patiently from Ron to Harry while Fred looked non chalantly at his nails.

"You see, that damned Fillip Broco got us to make a bet on who could get those infernal drinks back after he took it from Marillo, and got caught by Filch. So now we need pets - I mean allies to get them back." George finished smoothly.

"So... what? Do you want us to get it before his group and bring it to you?" Harry asked confused at what they wanted.

"Exactly," George said smiling, "you see Fred and I want to bet whether or not you guys can get it before them. You see, as a reward for getting it you guys can use it however you want." Ron looked baffled, and at a loss for words; Harry didn't want to betray his promise to Hermione.

"But why give it away after the hard work it took just to smuggle it in?" Ron asked cautiously, drawing away from them even with Harry between them. His imagination went wild as to why they would give it up so simply. Maybe it's poisoned!... er - maybe not. It could be a cheap knockout... It could just be pumpkin juice in disguise... Or ma-

Fred upon seeing his youngest brother's expression knew exactly what he was thinking. He rolled his eyes and stared dully at Ron.

"It's real and authentic. The only reason we're letting it go so easily is because the result of us - George and I - winning is that Broco swore that he'd run around the entire castle only in his underwear, which in our opinion is extremely satisfying."

Ron looked content with this answer, not at all bothered by the fact that he was an easy read. He turned to Harry with an expression that asked 'should we do it?', but Harry who was still undecided gave a grimace.

Harry was still trying to carefully think it over while the twins were explaining the rules.

Rules:

1. You are not given the identities of your opposing players.

2. The people who are part of the original bet cannot participate in the race.

3. You may commence once the clock chimes midnight.

"Just remember to bring the bottle back for proof, 'Kay?" Fred said, getting up with George from the bench looking back at them.

"Wait, no! I promised Hermione that I would stop anyone from stealing it, not steal it for myself!" Harry chased after them with Ron at his heels. Really, he wanted to do it. But...

Fred and George abruptly stopped mid step causing Ron to almost collide into Harry.

"Harry! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Said George over dramatically.

"But if you really don't want to...then make sure Ron does it", Fred finished exasperatedly ignoring the fact that his own brother may not want to do it either and they ran off before any of them could argue.

After saying their goodbyes to Hermione and playing wizarding chess, the clock showed that it was 6pm. Ron was sprawled out on the carpet utterly exhausted in front of the warm crispy fire due to the number of times he and Harry had played (27 times); Harry was lying next to him, silently looking up at the intricate patterns on the light brown ceiling. They stayed silently in that position, with the exception of the occasional yawn and shifting of their bodies; both were in deep thought. Harry's mind wandered from quiddich to his latest obsession…

His eyes were drifting closed…

The warm heat of the fireplace enveloping his body felt so nice…

Harry was surrounded by colourful bubbles. He was scarcely aware of his surroundings; he stepped closer to a particularly large purplish bubble – about the size of his head. Looking closer inside, he could barely make out an image of … a park. Yes, it was a beautiful park. It looked so peaceful and serene. He stepped away focusing and entering into another bubble; it was one of a glamorous ballroom decorated finely with someone standing in the middle of the room. This mystery person's face was obscured by a silver masquerade mask on which complemented his shining blonde hair; he had a slim delicate figure which was covered by an expensive black suit. Harry's body automatically moved towards this mysterious figure, his hand unconsciously moving up towards the stranger's outstretched one. The first time Harry had laid his eyes on him, he couldn't pinpoint exactly where he knew him from, but this person seemed too familiar. Nevertheless, the moment their hands touched, it felt as though it was only natural for them to be this close.

Gently grasping the soft frail hand that he felt was so real, their bodies drew automatically into a waltz position. Soft music played lightly in the background as their bodies glided lithely across the ballroom floor. Harry watched the other's masked face with a dazed expression, the only part of their face he could clearly see was the nose and mouth; he tried to place a name on this stranger as they continued to waltz. No words passed between them except flickers of changing smiles on their faces. As the music came to the end, the room began to shimmer and clandestinely morphed into what seemed to be the Gryffindor common room. The room was quiet, empty and dim with heat emanating from the roaring fireplace. Harry found themselves seated next to each other on the large couch closest to the fire; he felt a surprising yearning that he didn't know how to satisfy as he felt the presence of the other person. If only he could see his face.

The mask was the key. It was the only thing that was obscuring the familiar person's face. If only he could take it off maybe he could...

Without hesitation - surprising himself - Harry turned his entire body leaning over the masked person and brought his thumb and index finger to the right corner of the mask preparing to finally unveil the face. But at that moment he felt a cool hand clasping around his wrist and a focused unwavering gaze focused on his face. For the first time, Harry heard his voice.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," his voice was soft but crisp, sharp, and nostalgic. His lips turned up into a smile.

Harry cocked his head slightly to the side with a questioning look tugging lightly at the mask, but not actually attempting to pull off the mask. In turn, the familiar stranger shook his head once from one side to the other.

"What if you don't really want to know ... the truth?"

_The truth? ... _

"I can handle it," _I think, _"besides I'll need to face it one day. Think of it as shock therapy." He finished with a non chalante shrug, hoping that this would satisfy him.

Silence. "Shock therapy," he repeated monotonously he did not release Harry's wrist at but loosened his grip slightly. After a moment of contemplating this, he let go completely; slowly Harry lowered the mask revealing this mystery – _this truth._

"-ARRRGGGHHHHH!" Loud agonized screaming pierced Harry's ear, startled he jumped awake to see Ron sprawled on the floor, his eyes were wide open with a frantic look about them and his body was covered in a sheen of sweat. Harry kneeled next to him with a look of concern, he waited for Ron to calm down and be aware of his current surroundings.

"Bloody hell. That was... I thought I was going to go mad!" he said shaking, wiping the sweat off of his face with his sleeve. "Everyone was eaten really grusomely by the most terrible gigantic spiders I've ever seen! Ugh, I'm a mess, I'm going to go take a shower..." with that, he walked off to the washroom.

Harry sat comfortably on the couch his heart was still racing from the screaming that had abruptly woken him, he glanced at the time, 9:30pm. He stared into the fire, he felt as though he was forgetting something important... _Of course! _He sat up straight in his seat, _his eyes. _The only thing Harry could clearly rememeber from his dream was the stranger's eyes, but that was enough to put a name on the stranger. His lips curved up into a slight smile.

But now that he knew, what was he going to do about it?


	2. Chapter 2 Midnight Race

** A/U:Hello there! I'd like to know what people think of my stories! Reviews are appreciated! :D :3**

**1. **Reviews are nice! =D

**2. **And ideas or suggestions for the creation of other stories are accepted, always like fan service + cute ideas!

**3.** I'd like to give a big thank you to all of the people that added my story into story alert and favourites, it was a big motivation! And I apologize for the delays.

* * *

Ch.2 Midnight Race.

Ron returned to the Gryffindor common room rubbing his damp hair with a towel, he expected to see Harry sitting on the couch or something. But when he entered the room, it was completely empty.

"Err… Harry? Harry!" He called out his best friend's name. "Where are you-?"

He heard a muffled reply coming from the direction of the boys' dormitory. He walked through the door and towards Harry who sat on his bed with items scattered around him. Harry looked up and grinned, he looked a little different – a little _crafty._ Ron viewed Harry curiously.

"What's up?" Ron asked.

"You up for a fun adventure?" Harry asked still grinning.

Ron stared at him for a second and broke out into a wide smile. He collapsed onto the bed next to Harry with an air of relief.

"I am _so_ glad to hear you say that. I was seriously worried about this whole thing."

Harry watched his friend apologetically; he shouldn't have even contemplated whether or not to leave Ron alone to fend for himself.

"Alright, we have about two hours left now. Fred and George left some stuff under their bed addressed to us." Harry said tapping a rectangular box the size of a shoe box next to him. He lifted the lid and brought out some of the items. He handed Ron a small plastic transparent container with three round balls of different colours. Ron opened the container and examined the golden ball. It was sparkly, kind of squishy, and smelled like chamomile.

"What are these supposed to be anyways?" Ron questioned. Harry flipped the lid to show Ron what was written on the inside of it.

"It's written here that the golden one is a sleep bomb…" Harry said reading the tiny print. "You shake it and throw it as hard as you could to the area of the target and they sleep for a couple of hours. Hmm… It's quite useful, huh?" He continued reading, "The silver ball… it causes temporary hallucinations. It doesn't specify what kind of hallucinations, but I hope it isn't _too _bad…"

Ron lifted the silver metal ball which was surprisingly light as a feather. He then put it back and turned his eyes to the 3rd sphere. It was mauve and had question marks printed all over it, the material felt like rubber.

"It says the last is a surprise…" Harry said, "Oh and here's a hint:

If you break me  
I do not stop working,  
If you touch me  
I may be snared,  
If you lose me  
Nothing will matter."

The two of them sat thinking of the riddle, their faces contorted with confusion. Ron brought his hands up to his head and held it rolling to the side.

"I give up… I'm getting a headache…Geez, when we need Hermione, she's not here…"

Harry leaned back on his pillow and reached into the box blindly bringing out another object. It felt familiar – he looked at his hand. It was banana. He sighed and rolled his eyes; Fred and George probably snuck it out of the kitchen and misplaced it. He took out another item, it was a small gift box filled with 5 pieces of candy which were wrapped in colourful paper. _Err… more food... _Harry thought.

"Harry, this is neat." Ron said scanning the pieces of candy one by one. "Fred and George must've improved their ton tongue toffees and sweets. The letter they wrote says that these candies last longer. We could definitely use this on the enemy!"

"Oh… I see, then maybe this banana has a special use after all…?" Harry said questioningly holding up the banana. Ron inspected the fruit, after a while of surveying it, he shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea. Hey, wanna take a stab at guessing who the people from the slytherins are gonna be?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? The only people who stayed in the slytherin's are Malfoy and his lackeys." This was of course a large part of the reason that influenced Harry to go and partake in the midnight race.

"'Course, can't wait to defeat them…" Ron said happily.

The two of them spent the rest of the time planning what kind of tactics they could use in tricky situations, and fitted all the materials in their pockets. When they were done, it was a quarter to midnight. They stayed in the Gryffindor common room waiting for the time to come. Wide awake, they stood by the doorway out of the room and when the clock chimed midnight, they snuck out under the invisibility cloak.

With just the two of them, it wasn't as tight as when there were Harry, Ron, and Hermione under the cloak altogether. They walked carefully down the winding staircase slightly bent to make sure that their feet didn't show. Harry and Ron reached the first floor when they saw the bend at the end of the hallway growing lighter. Someone was coming.

The two of them stayed still, they needed to first see who it was and stay in place until they left. Finally, behind the beam of light was a bulky, short figure approaching them. It was Vincent Crabbe, one of Draco Malfoy's subordinates. He stood about 20 meters away from them and looked around him; several times he looked over the area Harry and Ron were standing. He started to steadily walk towards the area where they were. Ron sucked in his breath sharing a look with Harry when Crabbe closed the distance between them by half.

They were wasting precious time; Crabbe was obviously a look out for Malfoy who was probably near Finch's office by now. They needed to leave now. But before they left, the insurance of Crabbe getting out of the way needed to be ensured. So Ron who carried the silver sphere, plus the candies carefully reached into his pocket and took out the silver ball. When Crabbe's back was turned, he threw the metal ball at Crabbe's feet.

The area was filled with gray smoke which dissipated pretty quickly. When the area was clear of any remnants that were left, Harry and Ron saw Crabbe talking to someone he thought was there. He looked surprised at first then happy, he then ran away to the upstairs staircase looking yelling at someone to stop.

They hurriedly ran towards the dark corridor that led to the door to Filch's office. Along the way, Ron took out the banana, offered half to Harry who refused, then ate it. He dropped the peel while walking hoping that the enemy might slip on the banana peel. The hallway was very long, and took them 5 minutes of jogging to finally reach the midpoint of the hallway. The floor here looked a tad bit unstable, there were cracks on the floor from the recent brawl between students; and it hadn't been fixed yet. They were almost to the door when Ron fell sharply to the floor as a result of his foot getting stuck in one of the larger cracks. Harry turned back and leaned down taking off the invisibility cloak to lend a hand.

When they were both up again, they heard thumping of large feet running towards them. They whipped their heads to see what it was, a large figure in a dark cloak was coming straight at them with their arms outstretched. Harry and Ron jumped out of the way just in time to avoid getting caught in their attacker's grasp. The dark figure was running too fast to stop, so after he regained control over his body, he turned around and went after Ron who was closest to him. Ron, whose leg felt like it was sprained, fell to the floor after taking a few steps. The attacker's hood fell backwards as he swooped down and put his arm around Ron's neck in a choking manner.

Ron's fingers immediately flew to the arm around his neck. The attacker was Goyle, another one of Malfoy's subordinates. He had a grin on his face, and stared at Harry who was attentively focusing on the situation. The only way to quickly end this was to use the golden sphere, but that wasn't a good idea because if he used it, Ron would fall asleep too. He couldn't use his wand, because then even Goyle, as stupid as he was, would grasp the idea of what he was going to do.

"Go back to your rooms and I'll let Weasley go," Goyle said gruffly.

Harry stood there at a complete loss at what to do. Ron thought of what Harry was thinking about before.

He nodded and said, "Gold ball! Ball!" He paused, "its okay, just save me a bit of the stuff." He croaked.

Harry nodded back and reached into his pocket withdrawing the sparkling golden ball. He threw it as hard as he could, and backed up not wanting to get affected. The area was shimmering and clouded with sparkles. It was quite a sight; when the sparkles subsided, Ron and Goyle were on the floor snoring softly with somewhat peaceful expressions on their faces. Harry dragged Ron and hid him behind a large tapestry hanging on the wall. He took out his wand with a dark smile forming on his face and placed his left hand on the door handle. He knew what to expect when he opened the door.

Harry swiftly opened the door, as he expected, standing in the center of the room examining the boxes scattered in the room was his latest obsession and the angel in his dream.

Draco Malfoy.


End file.
